>Number: 11191
>Category: lib
>Synopsis: the `com_err' library is not useful
>Confidential: no
>Severity: serious
>Priority: high
>Responsible: lib-bug-people
>State: open
>Class: change-request
>Submitter-Id: net
>Arrival-Date: Tue Oct 10 15:58:00 PDT 2000
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator: Paul Kranenburg
>Release: NetBSD-current & NetBSD 1.5ALPHA
>Organization:
>Environment:
System: NetBSD sam 1.5E NetBSD 1.5E (SAM) #74: Sun Sep 10 00:35:00 MEST 2000 pk@sam:/usr/src/sys/arch/sparc/compile/SAM sparc
>Description:
The `com_err' library that is installed as part of the heimdal
kerberos installation does not provide sufficiently useful
features to applications. While in theory this library could be
used as a generic messages manager for applications, there are
currently no NetBSD applications moving towards such usage
outside of the kerberos context (and, given the lack of
documentation, I must assume that there isn't going to be an
attempt to change this anytime soon).
Add to this the fact that the two main functions exported from
this library, com_err() and error_message(), don't even work as
(apparently) expected by applications that call them in a
kerberos context.
Also note that the heimdal kerberos V library already provides
alternative means of presenting kerberos-related messages
(krb{5}_err(), et.al.) which _do_ work.
>How-To-Repeat:
>Fix:
Nuke the `com_err' library from /usr/lib, and move the contents
as internal utility routines into kerberos library. This will
also prevent the rather silly `error_message' symbol from intruding
into the application's name space.
Fix all kerberos applications by having them use krb_err(),
krb_warn(), krb_get_err_text(), etc, which will have the
bonus side-effect of actually producing intelligible messages.
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: